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ML SEAMAN, OF M IDDLEPORT, NEW YORK.

Letters Patent No. 75,583, dated March 17, 1868.

IMPROVED RAILROAD-RAIL FASTENING.

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TO ALL WHOM IT- MAY CONCERN:

Be it known that I, M. SEAMAN, of Middleport, Niagara county, New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Railroad-Fastenings; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clealy and exact description thereof, which willicnable others skilled in the art to make and use the same, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings,forming art of this specification, in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of myimproved fastening or connection of rails on a track.

Figure 2, an under side view of my improved intermediate section of a rail for making the fastening oi the ends of two rails.

Figure 3, a top view of the end of a main rail.

Figure 4, an cnd-view of the same.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

This invention relates to a new and useful improvement in the fastening for the ends of rails on atraek, designed to dispense with the chair generally in use, and form a continuousrail.

This improvement consists in cutting the ends of the rails in such manner that a short intermediate section of a rail can be fitted between the ends of two rails, and fastened to them, so as to form an extension or continuous rail, which is spiked down upon the ties'and held in place without the useof chairs.

lhe advantages of thisarrangement are, a great saving of wear and tear of the rails and the rolling-stock, which follows from the hammering of the wheels upon the ends of rails abutting against each other and resting upon rigid, unyielding chairs, the evils of which are well understood, but have not been hitherto successfully obviated. i I r 7 By my improved mode of fastening with an intermediate section of a rail, forming oblique or diagonal joints, instead of square or righ t anglc joints, as usual with chairs, the track is rendered as smooth continuously at the ends as along the body of the rail, audits elastieity is us great atone part'as another, thus obviating the blows or hammering of the wheels on thejcnds of rails, which is so destructive to railroad property and unpleasant to passengers in the cars, who are jarred by every blow. 'lhe fastening is also much stronger and safer than a chair.

A A represent two ordinary rails, and B an intermediate section of a rail, connecting their ends on a track, as showli in fig. 1. The ends of the main rails AA are cut away on the sides of the head 6 and neck 0, down to the top of the base, :1, fora short distance on opposite sides, and the head I; is cut off down to the upper part of the neck a of each rail in such manner as to leave-a tongue or rib, c, in the middle of the rail, upon which rib is fitted agroovc, e, in the bottom of the section B, as seen in fig. .2. The section B is formed with the head b, to replace the some parts out out of the ends of the rails A A, and with ends or sides, a a, projecting from the middle on opposite sides, to fill the spaces cut away on the heads and necks of the main rails, and rest on their base, d. The ends of the rails A A and the intermediate section B are fitted into each other at an angle of forty-five degrees, to form oblique or diagonal joints, as shown in the drawings. The parts are secured together by lccys or bolts, r g, through the neck, which thus make a solid continuous rail that is spiked down upon the ties and hold in place without chairs.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is- The construction and arrangement of the intermediate section B, provided with the head I), resting upon the flanges'd J of the rails A A, its sides or vends a a projecting from the middle in opposite directions, one over t'hc'outer sidc of one of the rails A, and the other over the inner side of the opposite rail A, the point of connection of the cnds-ofthc rails A and intermediate rail B fitting into each other at an oblique or diagonal angle, when all are constructed and arranged as herein set forth, for the purpose specified.

The above specification of my invention signed by me, this 21st day of February, 1867.

M. SEAMAN. Witnesses:

W. Fonnnsr, A. J. BAKER. 

